The Three Sannin History
by hanagashi123
Summary: well, in the great series naruto, the sannin quickly become main characters in the middle of the series. However, the series does not go into detail about the sannin's history or life from naruto's age up to now. This series is all about the recreation of
1. The Beginning

A/N- just a quick heads up! (wide eyes look) means that it's that face when Naruto is shocked and angry at the same time. You know, it's when he has really big white pupiless eyes. Secondly, if you see anything written in _italics _it's automatically an inner monologue passage.

In a steady but quiet and at the same time thriving village on a sunny day, there are three cries. The cries are distinct- the cries of new born babies. One is a pale baby with small tufts of blonde hair, another with darker skin and no hair, and the last with gray skin and a full head of black raven hair. Each set of parents crowd around their children with glee of a different kind around their faces. Each set of parents has just had their first child ready to begin parenthood. The first child with blonde hair smiled and looked up at her parents with big brown eyes full of curiosity. The mother, with blonde hair and green eyes looked deep into the eyes of her child and smiled. The father, with brown hair wilted down by a bandana with strange head gear and brown eyes stood beside the woman. The woman after a moment spoke, " her name is (slight pause) Tsunade."

The second child with no hair and who also had thin red strips going from his eyes to his mouth wails uncontrollably. The mother, with long flowing black hair and eyes cradles the wailing child all the while making soothing sounds. The father, who stood behind the woman, had wild medium gray hair and that spiked and went in every direction. He too has the same red stripes as the child, but they are much thicker. The father smiles, proud of his son's wailing. "That's a strong one. Boy, just look at him go. Yes, he will be a strong warrior." The woman looked up at her mate, finally being able to quiet the child and asks, "what do you should we name him?" The father's eyes glistened as he looked over his son. "We will name him, Jiraiya."

And, the third child sat quietly looking up at his parents with a semi-blank staring look. He seems to have a wise ness that should not have been obtainable until much later in life. His eyes are a vivid green brown that shows that there is fire inside him. His mother and father, with lecherous grins look on at their 'prophecy'. The father, who looks like a future replica of the child except full grown, had evilly dark looking eyes; the mother the same but with a more feminine touch. The mother spoke up with a calm, cold voice, "we shall name him as planned?"

"Yes. He is Orochimaru. The next prophet of the forbidden serpent clan."

11 YEARS LATER

A small girl with paler skin and blonde hair skips merrily through the town. She wears a simplistic dress tied at the waist with a blue sash. Her hair is now long and flowing separated into pig tails. She is a happy healthy child on her way to somewhere special, today is the day that she, Tsunade, is excepted at the ninja academy as a genin. As she skips she all of a sudden bumps into a tree. The girl's face becomes inflicted with rage. "Stupid tree," she murmurs. "You don't deserve to stop me today."

RIP CRANK

The little girl walks forward, with the tree now uprooted and fallen to the ground.

Another small child, a boy; with wild white hair and tan skin races throughout his house looking for his knapsack. The boy's mother yells from the other end of the house, "Jiraiya! Hurry up and go! You're going to be late!"

"I know, I know! Just give me a minute!" Jiraiya, now madly rambling through his things, finds his knapsack at that bottom of a huge pile of mess. He gives a victorious sneer and races off saying " bye mom! I'm off." As he goes out the door, in the background is the mother's faint calling that is, " good bye son! Good luck!"

Jiraiya races off to his new school, the ninja academy; where he too becomes a genin today. As Jiraiya runs, he gets lazy where he is running. SMACK Jiraiya bumps into a man with brown hair branching out at the sides with a small brown goatee. He wears the standard ninja uniform, the mark of a jounin. Jiraiya looks up at him and says, "move it! I'm late! I have to get somewhere in a hurry."

The man gives a disapproving look and says, "tsk tsk, bossy aren't we? You know—"

"I don't have time for your lectures old man! Go!" Jiraiya races past him and scrambles down the road.

A small boy with grey skin and black hair sits silent in a tree looking over the ninja academy. The boy's body is corpse like but the eyes are full of life. As he stands against a huge branch hidden in the tree, a snake comes to him and curls up around his leg. The snake starts hissing for awhile, as if talking, and then stops.

"I know already Janaiba. I don't have time to deal with you today. Leave me."

The snake gives a resounding hiss as is if to give a response and slithers away.

The boy climbs down the tree with rapid succession. On the ground beside him lands a name tag saying: Orochimaru. The boy jeers at the object and walks on toward the entrance of the building.

Soon enough, there is a huge crowd gathered outside the building. Half the crowd is kids, the other parents. There are several jounin lined up. Jiraiya walks up toward the building smiling. "Yes! Today is today where I start being a serious ninja!" Jiraiya's eyes scan all of the people that are there. There are of course many people that he recognizes from the academy and several teachers, one he preferably would like to stay away from, are their too.

All the jounin are talking about the upcoming year and what gifted students they will see. However, one jounin stands to the side being anti-social with a sour looking face. He has light grey wild hair that spikes out in all directions, wears a jounin uniform, and wears a plate mask with konoha's symbol around his face.

It is here that Jiraiya sees his best friend, Yuuko. The boy is particularly good looking; he was certainly popular with all the girls. However, he is very down to earth. He has light brown skin, black semi-spiky hair and blue eyes. He also has two crescent moons on both sides of his cheeks facing toward each other. "Yuuko!" Jiraiya yells and then waves. Yuuko spots Jiraiya and smiles. He walks toward him with a friendly disposition. Once he is standing right next to Jiraiya, Jiraiya whispers with a secretive face, "hey, Yuuko, who's the fart face that's off by himself with the white hair? Man, I hope we don't get him as a squad leader."

"You're such an idiot Jiraiya." Jiraiya turns around to see that it's Tsunade.

Tsunade gives a snotty look of disapproval and says, "if you knew anything, you'd know that THAT guy is the second hokage."

(big wide eyed look) Jiraiya points and exclaims, "THAT'S THE SECOND HOKAGE? WHAT A JOKE! HE'S JUST AN OLD FART FACE!"

In back of Jiraiya there appears a black figure. "A fart face am I?"

Jiraiya looks in back of him to see that it's the second hokage. "b-but, you're over---"

Jiraiya immediately glances back that the only thing left where the hokage was standing is a pile of leaves. The second hokage cocks his head up and says, "I'll be looking forward to giving you a couple of lessons in the future, Jiraiya."

The second hokage walks off. _"H-how did he know my name?"_ Jiraiya thought.

In a couple of moments the whole crowd is gathered and standing at attention. The second hokage walks up to a small stage and announces, "welcome students and parents. Today is the day that the real learning begins. Students, you will learn in here advanced techniques, become stronger in the body and in the mind and establish the way of the ninja firmly to its roots. I wish you luck. Do your best and you shall succeed!" The children looked up in wonder seeing as to the possibilities of their future. The adults clap in remembrance that they had heard the exact same speech when they went to the academy. It is the famous speech the first hokage used at his inauguration. It was a speech that showed the pride of konoha.

The doors open and all the students rampage into the building. Everyone files into the same classes that they had used when they were still in the academy. When everyone is settled in, a jounin walks in. He has brown hair tied back in a pony tail, brown skin and a stubbly chin. He is one of the youngest jounin, only 20 years old. It is non-other than Ebuki sensei, the former teacher of Jiraiya and all the class of the academy.

Ebuki smiles and says, "hello class. I see everyone from the academy is here today. Now, the very first thing we will do is give you your squad assignments. After calling about 20 names Ebuki speaks, "squad eleven, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru." (wide opened eyes) "WHAT? I HAVE TO BE WITH THAT LOSER?" Jiraiya points at Orochimaru.

"Jiraiya, you're the real loser. You had all time low scores passing your academy exams. Orochimaru's were the highest." Jiraiya makes a pout face and glances over toward Orochimaru. Orochimaru just gives him a blank stare. Tsunade sits hunched over the table with an irritated look. _"Great. I'm stuck with a pervert and snot. There's no way this can't get worse." _

Two more squads are called before all squads are assigned.

"Alright class. You are all dismissed. You will meet your instructors tomorrow. Good luck!"

Everyone gets up and leaves rather hastily.

TO BE CONTINUED…….

A/N- yes. I have started a new series. One that I hope draws a lot of appeal to others as it did for me. This series will be solely based on the past of the three sannin (Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru) O! and Ebuki is the late (or later I should say) father of Iruka. Ebuki, as you can tell from the description, looks exactly like Iruka without the scar.


	2. A Day with Jiraiya

Tsunade, Orochimaru and Jiraiya sat outside the academy waiting for their first lesson. Their instructor was ten minutes late and didn't seem like he was coming. But, after about a moment more, he appeared. He was a rather good looking man. He had tan skin, dark brown hair and slight eyes. He wore a robe and pants with wooden sandals. He smiled at the three children who stood before him. "Hello, students. I am your instructor,

Sarotobi. Now before we start our first lesson today, I want to hear your goals. Let's start with you," Sarotobi said as he pointed to Tsunade.

Tsunade sighed and said, "Pass. I have not future goals."

"O, c'mon. You must have one future goal."

Tsunade blushed and twittled her thumbs and said timidly, "well…I do have one goal."

"And what is that?"

Tsunade gave a very serious look and stood up proudly. "I want to become the strongest person in the world! Where no one can match my strength. And no boy dares to oppose me!" Sarotobi chuckled at this remark and said, "ok, ummm how about you?" he spoke as he pointed to Orochimaru."

"My goals are private. None of which you can help me with."

"Alright."

"And finally, what are your goals?" Sarotobi looked at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya made a face of utter intensity and avowed tensely, "I want to….BE ABLE TO BE THE BIGGEST PIMP IN THE WORLD! ONE WHO HAS A LOT OF LADIES WITH BIG BOOBS!"

Sarotobi and Tsunade fell over while Orochimaru looked away in embarrassment and disgust.

"That's not a goal!" Sarotobi yelled as his face was slowly getting redder and redder."

Tsunade muttered, "ugh, Jiraiya you're such an idiot sometimes."

"What? What did I do?"

Sarotobi gave a heavy sigh and said, "Alright. Let's begin."

tinkle tinkle

Sarotobi whipped out two small silver bells for everyone to spectate. "Today, your mission is to gather these two bells from me. If you don't get one---"

"One must go to the log," Orochimaru said as he cocked his head towards three huge logs planted in the ground."

"Correct, Orochimaru."

Tsunade raised her hand. "But sir, there's only two bells. Which means—"

"Which means that inevitably at least one person will be tied to the log."

Jiraiya smirked and put up his fist in a victorious manner. "ALRIGHT. I'm gonna get the bell for sure than."

"Now, before all of you try first stretch and do any five minute practicing that you need to."

Jiraiya smirked and said, "We don't need any stretching old man. We can take you on in our sleep!"

"Very well. If you insist."

Jiraiya immediately charged at Sarotobi. "EAT THIS!" Jiraiya smiled as his hand was just about to clasp over the pair of bells when HE SPONTANEOUSLY did a face plant.

The training went on until the sun began to set. Everyone was tired- especially Jiraiya. He had cuts and bruises all over him. Tsunade and Orochimaru each held a bell in hand. Tsunade gave a smirk and waved the bell tauntingly in front of Jiraiya's face. "Well, Jiraiya, it looks like I won the bet!"

Jiraiya gave a pout face and muttered, "Shut up…no breasted Tsunade!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Jiraiya and Tsunade started fighting only using legs, seeing as Jiraiya was the one tied to the log and could not move his arms.

"Hey!" Sarotobi voiced, "The two of you stop. Tsunade and Orochimaru go home." Sarotobi turned to Jiraiya and gave a tired sigh. Once Tsunade and Orochimaru were gone, Sarotobi spoke up.

"Jiraiya, a ninja must not fall into obvious traps, you fell into almost all of them. Why don't you be more like Orochimaru?"

That remark set Jiraiya's teeth on edge. He gave a grunt and bellowed, "Sensei! It's always about Orochimaru isn't it? It's only been a week and all you've talked about his him! Besides…" Jiraiya turned his face to a side as if to look away and muttered, "Besides, whenever I go peeking, I use my cloaking jutsu and have never gotten caught."

"Never?" Sarotobi said as he raised an eyebrow.

"Never!"

"Well then, if that's the case…" Sarotobi's face turned beet red, "I will accompany you on your next trip."

"Sarotobi….you pervert."

NEXT DAY

There was no school today but Jiraiya had somewhere to go- the women's bath house. He said good bye to his parents that morning and headed toward the end of town. When he could see the faint line of haze coming from the steaming hot springs, he ran to the entrance bridge and waited. After only a few moments of standing around, Sarotobi walked up in his usual attire with his face slightly red. "So, we ready?"

Jiraiya nodded and got into stance. "Cloaking jutsu!" After a few moments, Sarotobi said, "nothing happened."

"Try to talk to someone."

Sarotobi raised an eyebrow and said, "I don't know what your up to, this is ridiculous."

Just then a woman walked by holding baskets. Sarotobi approached her and tried greeting her, she did not respond. _"Maybe she thinks I'm someone else." _ Sarotobi got in front of the woman and greeted her again. The woman brushed passed him as if he was not there.

"_Ooooohh….I get it. We're invisible. Hmmm…it's rare for someone, especially someone like Jiraiya to have this talent at such a young age." _

"You coming or not old man?"

"Yah, yah. Ok, I believe you, let's go."

Jiraiya and Sarotobi headed down to the main bath houses passing several young women, some young enough to be called girls in towels. While Jiraiya was practically unphased, Sarotobi was already redder than beet red. Jiraiya gave a snuff in disbelief. _"Wow, this is pathetic. Not even I'm this bad. I bet he's a virgin." _

After a little while, they approached the bath house door that had the sign "women's bath" in front of it. Jiraiya made for the door and then withdrew when he saw that Sarotobi stood stalk still in front of the building.

"Hello? What are you doing?"

"I…I don't know if I can do this. Besides! What if someone sees us opening the door when no one's in the door way?"

Jiraiya smirked and said, "This is where the second phase of my ingenious ninja skills come into play. It's more or less pointless for this but I know it'll be useful in the future."

Once again Jiraiya got into stance and said, "Hurry and grab one of my hands."

"Transparent jutsu!"

Again it seemed like nothing happened. Jiraiya and Sarotobi didn't look transparent but they certainly were for Jiraiya walked right through the door as if he were a ghost.

"_This kid continues to amaze. Popping one jutsu out after the other…" _

Sarotobi followed in and immediately felt a wave of hot, moist air. Instantly the bath house was revealed filled with plenty of women. Jiraiya's face turned slightly red and Sarotobi became so flustered he almost fell over. Sarotobi made a short sudden gasp as a girl walked so close to him that they were able to brush cheeks when the woman walked right through him. The two found seats on two nicely sized rocks. They sat and oggeled over every female for what seemed like forever on a mental capacity. Neither said anything to each other knowing already the words that were in their minds.

It was when the sky turned a light pink when Jiraiya said something. "Satisfied?" he mused airily.

"Just a little longer."

It was then that a girl came to sit on the rock that Sarotobi was seated on. He made no attempt to move knowing that the girl would go right through.

But to his horror, the girl stopped in midair. Her legs were not fading through Sarotobi's body. The girl got up and started waving at the air around the rock. Her hand snapped back as she felt something hard in midair- Sarotobi's face. She screamed. A pair of feet with wooden sandals appeared on the ground with no other attachments.

Within moments, both Jiraiya and Sarotobi were fully visible. The rest of their bath visit deemed them as 'perverts' and plenty of bruising. Both walked home trampled still mostly satisfied with their day.

When Sarotobi and Jiraiya and were in front of Jiraiya's house, Jiraiya asked quietly, "so, are you coming with me on future trips, _sensei? _Jiraiya waited eagerly to hear 'yes'."

Sarotobi stood still for a moment and said, "No. I think I've gotten my fill for a while."

Jiraiya stared up in bewilderment, "what?"

Sarotobi gave a friendly smile and said, "But I'm glad you took me. See you tomorrow for training." Sarotobi walked in the sunset, happy that he had bonded with one of his students and irritable at the pain he felt from the relentless beatings of all the women in the bath house.

Jiraiya smiled as Sarotobi walked off knowing that deep down, Sarotobi was a good guy and not the pervert that Jiraiya took him for. With one last glance, Jiraiya headed into the house.

TO BE CONTINUED………….


	3. A Ninja's Beginning

Sarotobi stood around at the training grounds waiting for his students. Today was there second lesson, this time a time for choosing what type of jutsu each student wanted to excel in the most. The sun was high and bright by the time the students got there. Jiraiya was beaming, Tsunade wore a calm expression, and Orochimaru had his usual blank stare.

"Finally! You're all here! Why are you all so late?"

Jiraiya gave a questioning glance, "what are talking about? We're on time!"

"No you're not!" Sarotobi said as his face slowly grew angrier, "it's….," Sarotobi made a hand at the sun, "it's….8:30. Huh, you are on time. Well then never mind, let's begin. And, it's time for one of the most important questions I will ask you three. Consider the choice before you answer," Sarotobi says as he makes a face at Jiraiya, "that means you, Jiraiya."

"Well? What's the question? Get on with it, old man!"

"My question is…what type of jutsu do you want to excel in? Ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu?"

Jiraiya got so excited that he could barely hold in his joy.

"Alright, I will give you only a couple of moments to decide what type of jutsu you want to master in."

Tsunade and Orochimaru sat down and thought while Jiraiya is jumped up and down the whole time waving his hand.

"And……time's up! Tsunade, Orochimaru, stand up."

"Oh! Oh! PICK ME! WOO! OVER HERE!"

Sarotobi gave a heavy sigh. "Alright Jiraiya, what?"

"I wanna master taijutsu! YAH. And kick butt where ever I go and show my awesome strength!" Jiraiya starts kicking and punching the air like he's a kung fu master.

"As much as to expected from you, Jiraiya."

"Mmmmm….Tsunade, how about you? What type of jutsu are you interested in?"

Tsunade gave a determined look, "I wanna master in ninjutsu! See what being a real ninja is all about!"

"_Hmmmm…interesting. Yes, Jiraiya is made for taijutsu, but Tsunade for ninjutsu? With her strength she would be awesome at taijutsu. And then no doubt that Orochimaru will be interested in genjutsu. This will be difficult. All three different people for all different jutsus. Not to mention I'm probably not fit to teach genjutsu." _

"Orochimaru, that leaves you. What type of jutsu would you like to master in?"

"Genjutsu…and ninjutsu."

Sarotobi gave a taken aback expression. "Really? Two jutsus? Are you sure you're up for that?"  
"Yes. I want to become a master of two…and eventually three."

"Quite the ambitious one aren't you?"

"Well, it won't be easy. You will have more training to do than Tsunade or Jiraiya. And once you're sure you want to do both. There's no quitting. You rather go all the way or no way. Understand?"

Orochimaru gave the slightest of nods and a flick of his eyes.

"Now, is there anything specific technique of any sort that you're looking to master?"

Tsunade anxiously raised her hand and waved it through the air fervently. Sarotobi smiled and called on her. "Well…I wanna be able to summon something, preferably a powerful animal whenever I need it. And I want it to obey me willingly."

Jiraiya's ears perked up and joined in, "yah! That's sounds totally cool! I wanna try!"

"Really? You guys want to learn the summoning jutsu?"

Tsunade and Jiraiya enthusiastically replied, "Yes".

"Well then, you actually happened to pick a rather easy jutsu. Although, it will take some time to master. Now, before we establish how to learn this, I first need to know what animal you want to summon specifically."

Tsunade raised her hand again and spoke in a hurried tone, "aren't there different scrolls? I mean for different groups of animals, depending on their abilities?"

"Yes, indeed there are. There are four groups: the ones that jump, the ones that pounce, the ones that strike, and the ones that slither."

"Well…what animals are in each group?" Tsunade asked quizzically.

"The ones that jump are the toad, monkey, the cricket, and however strange it sounds; the flea .The ones that strike include the spider, snake, scorpion, and wasp. The ones that slither include a slug, a snail, a salamander, and an eel. And finally, the ones that pounce are a wolf, a lion, a tiger, and a jaguar. Now, even though the last group probably sounds the most powerful, they are extremely hard to control, very few people are able to gain to use those animals willingly."

Jiraiya put his thumb and his forefinger to his chin. "Well, if I can't have the coolest one, then I'll go for the second coolest one, I choose the frog of the ones that jump!"

Orochimaru nonchalantly raised his hand. "I pick…the snake from the ones that strike."

Tsunade followed, "I pick the slug from the one that slithers."

Jiraiya made a face at Tsunade and said obnoxiously, "ewe…why do you want that? A slug is so useless!"

"Shut up! I think a slug's cool! A frog is the animal that's stupid."

Jiraiya and Tsunade break out in a cat fight and Tsunade won by getting the final hit before Sarotobi had to break them up.

"Eh-hum, now students, in order to use the summoning jutsu, you must sign a contract."

Sarotobi goes into stance and three scrolls pop up out of the air and land squarely on the ground. Each scroll rolls out to reveal a long line of names printed in blood. "You must sign your names in blood to be in allegiance with your animal. Also, under your name put the animal you wish to summon. Otherwise, you will summon all four animals at once and that could get very messy in battle."

Each student hurriedly signed their name and gave the scroll back to Sarotobi.

"Alright class. Now I will show you a finished product of the summoning jutsu." Sarotobi got into stance again and had a very tense face. He bit his thumb to make a small cut revealing some blood. Then, he shot out his arm and slammed it to the ground exclaiming, "SUMMONING JUTSU." And before anyone knew it, Sarotobi was riding a giant yellow and orange salamander. "Alright class! Give it a try! But remember, you need to focus the chakra in your hand and you need a 'blood offering' every time you try the jutsu."

Tsunade was the first to raise her hand and yell out the incantation. There was a small little 'poof' on he ground and out came a baby slug. Tsunade stuck up her nose at it in frustration that it was not a giant impressive animal. Orochimaru was the next to try and got the same 'poof' sound. But instead of a snake, he got an egg the size of his hand. As usual, Orochimaru gave an expressionless gaze. Jiraiya was the next to try with a smug smile on his face. "SUMMONING JUTSU!" This time, there was a big cloud of smoke. And, to everyone's surprise, out came a giant frog half the size of Jiraiya.

Jiraiya immediately went into a little triumph dance. Tsunade balled out, "hey! How come he's the best?! Jiraiya sucks at everything else!" Jiraiya stuck his tongue out at Tsunade. "Sarotobi sensei?" Tsunade inquired.

Sarotobi stood quiet for a minute as if struggling to formulate the right words.

"Well, Tsunade, it does not surprise me that Jiraiya is the best at this technique."

"It doesn't?" Orochimaru and Tsunade asked in unison.

"No. you see, this is a taijutsu technique. And Jiraiya has the type of body and chakra flow that's naturally suited for taijutsu. So naturally, he's the best at the summoning jutsu. You will find that what ever you have an aptitude for, you will be better at the technique than your peers who don't excel in the same thing."

"Makes sense," Tsunade commented. The three continued the technique through the whole day. While Tsunade and Orochimaru did not have much success, Jiraiya already became the master of the technique. On the way home, Jiraiya was cheering loud enough for have of Konoha village to hear. "WOO! I HAVE SO MUCH TALENT I'LL BE THE HOKAGE FOR SURE!"

Tsunade pouted and muttered, "Stuff it Jiraiya."

Jiraiya stopped his cheering and asked, "Why are you so mad?"

"No reason, I just wanna get home."

Jiraiya shrugged and breathed, "Whatever."

NEXT DAY

The next day was warm and sunny. Everyone for once was on time and the lesson started earlier than usual. For the first part of the lesson, everyone still worked on their summoning jutsu. Tsunade managed to promote to a slug that was about two feet long versus her usual hatchling. And Orochimaru managed to have a _hatched _egg/ snake ling.

After awhile, Sarotobi made them stop and announced that they were moving on to something new. "Ok. Today's lesson will be about chakra control."

Jiraiya gave a bored sniff and retorted, "We've already learned about chakra control! All through the years we had to be at the academy! Teach us something else new! That summoning jutsu thing was awesome!"

"Well, Jiraiya, this isn't _just _about chakra control. Maybe a visual will help you understand more." Sarotobi started walking toward a tree. He kept walking until his face was an inch away from the tree. But, to everyone's wonder, he didn't stop there. Sarotobi's feet were no longer walking forward but up. He was walking up the tree with his feet as he would on the grass. He stopped at a tree branch so that he was standing upside down.

"You see, Jiraiya. This isn't _just _about chakra control. Today students you will learn a skill that is key to being a ninja- excellent chakra control and the ability to walk on surfaces of all types by using chakra. What makes this a challenge is that your feet, the place where your chakra needs to be drawn to, is the hardest place to keep chakra. First, focus on channeling your chakra to your feet and keeping it even. Then, give yourself a running start to give yourself some momentum for getting up the tree. As your control of chakra improves, you won't need as much of a running start until you can merely walk up to a tree and walk up it."

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, all took about twenty paces away from the trees. Jiraiya and Tsunade sprinted towards their trees hoping to push themselves all the way to the top. Orochimaru merely started walking and walked up the tree as if it was second nature.

"Ahhhh, Orochimaru, I see you've already learned how to control chakra through your feet. Very well, just keep walking up and down the tree as long as you can.

By the end of the day, Jiraiya and Tsunade were sweating and panting heavily. They had only managed to get up about half way up the tree. Their eyes narrowed with envy as they saw Orochimaru merely walk up and down the tree effortlessly.

The sun was setting and the sky was orange. Sarotobi dismissed class for the day and everyone headed home. Out of the three, Tsunade was the most down trotted. She had a look of disappointment on her face. _"Ugh, why can't I be good at anything? Compared to Jiraiya and Orochimaru I'm just worthless. I can't walk up trees, I can't summon cool animals…at this rate I might just consider being a house wife…"_

"Hey! Hello!"

Tsunade looked up startled. Jiraiya was waving his hand in front of her face.

"Are you ok? You seem…strange."

Tsunade, a little startled at Jiraiya noticing quickly said, "No, I'm fine."

"Alright. See you tomorrow Tsunade!" Jiraiya quickly walked back to his house. Tsunade slumped back to hers with a little smile on her face happy that someone cared about her.

All of a sudden, determination spread over Tsunade's face. _"I know what I'll do. Starting tomorrow I'm gonna try my best. And through that, I'll just know that I'll become a good ninja!" _

TO BE CONTINUED…….


	4. Summoning Jutsu Put to Use

The three students stood against each other with their backs turned and their eyes searching around frantically the landscape before them. They were in the training grounds and had started their first official battle. flutter A small sound came from a bush that made Jiraiya's eyes fling immediately to the left. crunch The soft pat of a foot crunching on fresh grass reached Tsunade's ears and immediately alerted her senses to a higher intensity. The iridescent cry of a bird left Orochimaru in a wave of ecstasy. Waiting….

WHOOSH. A black figure sprang from the trees and landed abruptly on the ground. Not stopping there, the mysterious fiend began darting around divergently eventually forming a pattern. The trio crowded in even closer to each other. Immediately, they began planning on how to catch their predator. Jiraiya, eyes spinning around wildly, kept an eye on the opponent, still not making his move. Tsunade began to build up chakra and formed a mild barrier. And Orochimaru was devising a strategy.

"Tsunade-chan, Jiraiya-kun, I've come up with two strategies. Pay attention but still keep your guard up. The first plan I'll tell you about is if this guy keeps doing this. The second is for if he attacks or if he hides." The three stood so closely now that they could feel each others' breaths. The figure did not change his pattern of attack once Orochimaru was done explaining. Thus meaning it was time to put plan A into action.

"On my go," Orochimaru whispered. "Get ready; get set….and….go." Each person sprang out into a different direction; Jiraiya to the left, Tsunade to the right and Orochimaru up top.

_(Figure) "Hmmmm, it seems they've come up with a plan. I guess it's finally time to pay a little bit attention to them. After all, I am their teacher." _Sarotobi causally lifted his head from side to side seeing where they might hide.

"RAAAAAAAA!!!...GOTCHA!"

Jiraiya sprang out from on top of a tree and pounced at Sarotobi. Sarotobi, effortlessly dodging the attack moved slightly backward.

A snake hid under a bush and stuck out its tongue rapidly to take in all the excitement. "When should I go?"

"Hold on a second." Orochimaru picked up the snake and began mutating it with his chakra. The snake became inanimate and very sharp; similar to that of a harpoon. Orochimaru picked up his newly made weapon and aimed. The snake shot through the bushes and went at a staggering speed towards Sarotobi. Sarotobi dived about five feet to the right. At that moment Jiraiya and Orochimaru sprang up from where they hid and said, "TSUANDE, NOW!"

"AAAHHH!!" Tsunade screamed as she charged at Sarotobi with her hand in a fist landing a punch to Sarotobi that made him fly back into a tree.

(zig zag eyes) _"Jeez that was a hard punch. Those three are going to kill me someday. But still…the rate at which they're improving is AMAZING. I've never had a group this talented. They'll probably stay in the same three man cell for the rest of their ninja lives." _After a small while, Sarotobi recovered and started to brush off the dust.

"Well students, you did very well, all three of you. Excellent team effort and you even managed to land a hit on me. Oh! And before I forget, have all of you been working on your summoning jutsu?" All three students nod in unison. "Good, because today we're going to use them in battle."

"What? Really?! That is SO COOL!" Jiraiya said nearly wetting his pants in the excitement.

"But first," Sarotobi spoke up, "show me your progress. Tsunade, you first."

Tsunade reluctantly bit her thumb and got into stance. "SUMMONING JUTSU!" This time, there wasn't just a cloud of smoke; there was a mountain of it. And there, standing on the grass was a giant slug as big as the enormous trees of the konoha forests.

Sarotobi started to clap and exclaimed, "Very good Tsunade! This is impressive. Now, now! Keep your slug here. We're going to use him in a second. Orochimaru, you next."

"Summoning jutsu." A rather large snake appeared. It was about 20 feet in length and a little more than two feet wide; big enough to ride on anyway. "Jiraiya, now it's your turn."

Jiraiya gave a care free grin and eagerly bit his thumb. _"Hehehehe ah man, wait tell he sees this." _"SUMMONNING JUTSU!" instantly, the whole of the forest was covered in mist. Out of the white fluff came a huge frog. It was at least three hundred feet tall and hundreds of feet wide. It would be able to crush konoha with the sweep of its fore leg if it wanted to. Strangely enough, the frog wore a robe and held a long pipe in his hand. Jiraiya had an ear to ear grin on his face and excitedly waved up at the giant. "Hey frog boss! How's it going?!"

The frog seemed to hear and cocked his head downward. **"Kid, what have a told you about summoning me too much?"**

"Hey! It wasn't my fault! It was an order from Sarotobi-sensei!"

"**Hmmmm? Sarotobi? Well I'm still angry. Let's get this over with so I can go back."**

Sarotobi looked on in shock, _"Gamabunta the toad boss? How did Jiraiya learn to summon him? (sigh) this is going to be difficult." _"Jiraiya, seeing as gamabunta is too big for our beginning battles with the others I'm going to have to ask you to send him back."

"Awww, but I worked so hard Sarotobi-sensei! I even learned how to ride him!"

"You learned how to ride him?! Now that's something I don't believe."

"O yah?! Let me prove it to you. GAMABUNTA! LOWER YOUSELF DOWN A LITTLE SO I CAN REACH YOU."  
**"Fine." **With one massive leap, Jiraiya just barely managed to make it to Gamabunta's legs. "ok Gama' let's go for a 'spin'.

Gamabunta gave out a wheezing laugh and snidely grinned. "You got it."

BOOM gamabunta all of a sudden jumped a couple hundred feet into the air then sprang out to a giant lake right next to him. It was then that Gamabunta stopped, reared his back legs and started to wildly jump around in circles. Amazingly enough, Jiraiya still rode on Gamabunta's back with his gums flying. After Jiraiya summoned up enough strength within himself he managed to tell Gamabunta to stop.

Jiraiya, obviously satisfied with his work jumped off and landed squarely in front of Sarotobi. Tsunade and Orochimaru stood to the side; Tsunade's mouth agape and Orochimaru standing in silent surprise.

After a moment, Sarotobi got over his shock and cranked his head upward. "GAMABUNTA! I'M SORRY FOR THE INCONVIENCE, BUT COULD YOU SUMMON YOUR YOUNGER BROTHER? AFTER THAT YOU CAN LEAVE."

"**VERY WELL." **Gamabunta turned his pipe the other way revealing it to serve as a flute. The giant frog whistled a small sharp tune and sure enough, another puff of smoke appeared. It was another toad that looked exactly like gamabunta but was about half his size making him smaller than Tsunade's slug but bigger than Orochimaru's snake.

"**Until next time….kid." **In the blink of an eye, Gamabunta puffed out and was gone.

Jiraiya sort of stood to himself pouting. "He's not as cool as 'bunta," he murmured, "but…he'll do," Jiraiya said skeptically.

"Students, get on your animal and we will begin." Sarotobi glanced on how each person was mounted on their animal. "No, no, Orochimaru, you don't wanna sit that close."

Orochimaru looked up at Sarotobi with wide curious eyes. "I shall explain. You see, with a snake, where you sit on it is crucial. Where you're sitting is too close and will make the snake irritable. Plus, if your snake falls into a trap you'll be snagged in with it. Where you want to sit is a little more than half way up the snake."

"But, the snakes wiggling will be too wild for me to handle."

"You'll get used to it. For now, just use your chakra to hold yourself in place."

"I understand."

"Good."

"Now I want all of you to understand that this group has learned a very unique jutsu. Not many students or even jounin for that matter actually learn this technique. Before we begin, practice riding on your animals, establish a sense of timing and a sense of teamwork. After that, we'll get started."

The students made quick friends with their animals and were soon ready to start. Sarotobi walked in front of all three animals essentially cornering himself. "Attack me."

"What?" Jiraiya said.

"You heard what I said. Attack me."

"Gama go!"

"Rotsku attack!"

Both animals made a nose dive crash into each other without Sarotobi even making a move.

Tsunade leans over slightly and says softly, "It's our turn now Rin."

"Very well." Rin, Tsunade's giant slug, inhaled deeply and threw the upper part of her body back. Rin momentarily shot out what looked like giant balls of slime head right at Sarotobi. The teacher's eyes widened and without hesitation, Sarotobi leapt out of the way. The perilous ammo hit a rock that Sarotobi had stood in front of and melted it away to nothingness. "ARGH," Tsunade said as she grunted in frustration.

"It was perfect! And still he dodged it."

"Well obviously it wasn't so pe-e-r-rfect if he dodged it." Rotsku, Orochimaru's giant snake slinked next to Rin.

"Hey Orochimaru! Tell you snake to put a sock in it!" Tsunade yelled. Rotsku pocked at Rin with his tongue and then out of nowhere, bit her. Rin shot a couple of her poisonous darts in Rotsku's eyes which made the snake venomous. The pair began fighting like two, stubborn, school boys. The animals' motions were so incessant and awkward that both riders had to use their chakra to hang on.

"Hey... Rin! Please-calm-down!" Tsunade wailed.

Even Orochimaru was trying to talk some sense into his servant. "Stop it Rotsku, this isn't worth it."

"Rin! You're….gonna…throw me….OOOOOOOOFFFF.!" Rin delivered a final twist that sent Tsunade hurtling.

It wasn't for a while until Sarotobi and Jiraiya noticed the fight that was taking place. Gama came over and went in-between the two.

"Rin, Rotsku, stop this _immediately." _

"Easy for you to say, Gama, ALWAYS the perfect summoned animal."

"He started the fight. I will not tolerate being treated like that."

"WILL YOU TWO STOP?" Sarotobi yelled.

Instantly, the two stopped dead in their tracks with eyes wide. They knew from experience not to mess with Sarotobi.  
"The three of you (summoned ones) I mean. You were summoned here to do the bidding of your summoner. So far, you've done a very poor job of that. Any more displays of misconduct and I'll lower your levels a notch. And for you Rotsku, one more notch taken away and you'll be demoted."

Jiraiya spoke up and inquired, "sensei, what do you mean by notches?"

"Good question, Jiraiya. Just _what _exactly do I mean by notches? Notches are places of rank in the summoned world. The more 'notches' you have, the bigger, stronger, and wiser you are. However, when a summoned one's notch or notches get taken away, they will decrease in size, power but they will gain more sense in the hopes of giving them the thing they need to not make the mistake again. If a certain summoned one is bad enough, he/ she can loose so many notches that they are no longer considered that particular 'rank' and a moved down a caliber. Now that we have this settled let's get back---" Sarotobi looked at the sun and realized it was setting.

"Never mind, we will pick up where we left off tomorrow. Class is dismissed."

Jiraiya and Orochimaru dismounted their animals. All three students assumed a basic chakra forming stance and voiced the word 'unsummon'. All three animals poofed into clouds of smoke and disappeared.

1111111111

A half moon shot brightly in the crisp clear night. Two figures made their way with the already dew-drenched grass into the thick forested area by a river. One of the figures looked up at the moon with gleaming eyes that shone brightly through the darkness; similar to a cat's. When the two had reached their destination, a third figure was standing by the river. It was taller than the others and much bigger in general. Indeed, it was Sarotobi-sensei, Tsunade and Orochimaru. Both were here for their first ninjutsu lesson.

"Good, I'm glad the two of you both made it. Now, because of this training, I will give you guys the day off tomorrow. Before we begin our lesson, let's review some of the key points to first learning ninjutsu. One, to enhance your ninjutsu to the fullest, train in the dark to heighten your senses and give yourself a better chance of being an illusion. Two, ninjutsu is the main jutsu where hand signs and the speed at which your hand can make these signs are crucial. Three, you will be required to learn many advanced and difficult techniques to master this jutsu. And four, not only will you face against some of the most dangerous people in the world who pursue this jutsu, if you go over board with a technique, it can be devastating to the planet's geography."

It was after he had finished that Sarotobi had vanished and taken refuge into the thick unforgiving trees. "**Try to find me if you can. You will have till dawn to do so. Begin."**

TO BE CONTINUED……….

a/n- some of you might bewandering about the names of the 'bosses' in this episode. If you're a real naruto expert you would've noticed that thost aren't the real names of the giant bosses. The snake (Rotsku) and the slug (Rin) are not bosses and as of course, neither is Gama.


	5. Orochimaru

With bags under eyes and bruises all around, Tsunade slinked into the house exhausted. She and Orochimaru had been unsuccessful with their first lesson. It was well into morning when Tsunade closed her heavy eyes and collapsed into a deep hypnotic sleep. She was in such a state of distress that her aunt and younger brother chuckled to themselves.

However, somewhere in a dark cave outside the village, a pair of snake like eyes stood attentive and reproachful. Orochimaru was drained of his chakra and had even tapped into his the first chakra gate a little to stay awake. To be truthful, his physical stamina was poor and always had been. As a very small child he had caught a deadly virus which weakened his heart and ultimately weakened his physical ability. But…what people didn't know was that Orochimaru was 'different' child; A child from a different world.

5 YEARS AGO

In the outskirts of konoha village lay a dank house that looked like it was falling apart from wrought. On the inside the house looked neglected. The sliding paper doors were tinged green and filled with mildew. The tatami mats were matted and felt almost like algae. The place looked ideal for zombies, but remarkably enough, humans lived their just the same. In one room stood a bed and two people; Orochimaru's parents. There was a small boy in the bed looking sickly, piqued, and the life slowly leaving his eyes. He had pale skin, almost white. His hair was long and if not for looking so piqued, he would've looked normal. Orochimaru's father sat glaring as if this child was defective, a waste of time.

The mother however, was in one of the few times of her life showing vulnerability. She was weary and tears were starting to line her eyes. Her child would not make it. It was painfully apparent. And even though she was as cold and smooth as a piece of ice, she could not help but feel something precious of hers being taken from her. The room was silent except for the boy's rasping breathing.

The door slid open, and in walked Sarotobi and a medical physician. Orochimaru's father stood up proudly and announced, almost ordered, "Sarotobi, heal my child. You _must _heal him. He is the last reigning heir of our clan."

I understand that Sazuro, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do." With that Sarotobi nodded towards the physician and who got up from checking Orochimaru's condition.

"His pulse is dangerously low, as is his temperature, and his nerve impulse time. I'm afraid that even with medical help; he only has a few hours left."

"NOOOOOO!" Orochimaru's mother wailed. "Please! You must find a way to cure him. This is my only natural born child! There must be a way for him to get better!"

Sarotobi couldn't stand the despair that this woman was in. It was here that Sarotobi decided to do something very foolish. "I'm sorry, Chi-en," here Sarotobi winked at her, "but there is nothing we can do. Meet me in my office tomorrow to…discuss the funeral." With that, Sarotobi and the medical ninja left leaving a tear filled and confused Chi-en.

A couple hours later as predicted, Orochimaru went cold and his body had turned grey. A deadly silence took over the house. Sazuro and chi-en did not bother to cover up the small, lifeless body but went away into the night hoping for a new possibility. Sarotobi sat at his desk alone pinching his sinus in disbelief on what he was about to do. He was attempting to perform undead jutsu, a jutsu forbidden on all principles on all laws, religions, and cultures. If anyone found out that this stunt was pulled, Sarotobi would be condemned for life. Sarotobi, slowly drifting into a subconscious state was rudely awakened by a shallow knock at the door.

With that, Sarotobi picked up a tool kit and went out the door. He was met by a pair of glowing eyes, those similar to snakes. The bodies were nothing but dark silhouettes and made the eyes all the more striking. "Come with me," Sarotobi said quietly, "we will need to do this in private, in a cave will be best." A pair of the eyes nodded and brought something close to its face, a small bundle. And, with out another word, the group disappeared into the night and through the thick konoha forests.

strike a sullen cave wall was quickly lit up by a small match which then lighted a lantern. After walking deep into the cave, Sarotobi stopped Sazuro and Chi-en. "Set him down here," he said as he laid down his kit. Chi-en unwrapped the cloth to reveal a horrific sight. Orochimaru's body and especially his face and been lacerated and marked all over with strange seals, dark ones. Sarotobi picked up an animal bone from his kit. It looked like it belonged to a leg of a cow. He held the bone of Orochimaru's face. Then, he took a small pot of blood and put dots of it in specific places for the seals. Finally, Sarotobi set a pot of burning herbs and started chanting. It was not of any recent tongue and sounded much like a snake.

Sazuro and Chi-en started making rapid hands signs and chanted the same language that Sarotobi spoke. Orochimaru's body illuminated when a mist-like substance rapidly floated into the cave. It dove into Orochimaru's body and…slowly, the boy's eyes opened. The lacerations and cuts illuminated and faded away into this body. Orochimaru stood up, more lifeless looking than his parents. His eyes were the only signs of life, powerful, evasive. His skin did not retain is former color and remained gray. Orochimaru looked around bemused and asked, "Mother, Father, where am I?"

Sarotobi smiled in relief and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. _"What's done is done. And now, there's no turning back. I pray to the gods that there are no ill-happenings to this revival…." _

……

In the midst of day, dark eyes protruded out of a dark cave. They had shown brightly with an intense sign of life. Orochimaru stayed huddled in the cave, planning. All of a sudden, a voice sleeked into Orochimaru's head. _"Now, is not the time. We have years before we reach that point. For now train. Train like you've never worked before." _

_"Yes, sir. "_

_"Good. Now rest."_

TO BE CONTINUED…..


	6. GAMABUNTA

Blankets of Snow covered the village making it a winter wonder land. However, it's was not the usual cheeriness that filled the air. The atmosphere was dank, cold, and dreary; an uncommon winter. Everyone bundled up together in there warm clothes and set out to get things done quickly and be by the fire. Even in this time of seasonal hardship, the shinobi continue to train.

"HA!" Tsunade shot a foot up into the air then brought it back down with a resounding smack on the polished wood floor. The dojo she had inside her house was quiet extensive and fully equipped. Sarotobi sat at the side patiently watching. Because Tsunade wanted to be a genjutsu user, this was the best time to start training. It was especially hard to concentrate the special energy needed for genjutsu when it was cold. Thus, once you hurdled the biggest mountain it was all down hill coasting from there. With patient eyes, the teacher watched his student with hope and yet disappointment. Although he admired Tsunade for trying to master the hardest of jutsus, Tsunade did not possess the correct kind of chi to perfect the art and was really a taijutsu learner. Sarotobi felt that there was more than a good chance that teaching Tsunade genjutsu would be a wild goose chase.

1111111111111111111111111111111

"WOOO! SNOW! SNOW! SNOOOOOOOOWWW!!" Jiraiya busted with excitement as he pulled on his layers of clothing to play outside. Winter was his favorite season despite the cold. Jiraiya's mother looked on at her son smiling at his joyous behavior.

"(sigh) Ahhhh, if only I could enjoy things like a child does…" here, Jiraiya's mother paused, "Jiraiya, why do you like the snow anyway if you hate cold whether?"

"BECAUSE!" he exasperated, "you can do all sorts of stuff with snow! You can…have snow ball fits! And, and make snow angels! And make buckets of snow to pour on teachers! And you can eat it!...although I wouldn't suggest doing that… AND!—"

Jiraiya's mom gave a hardy laugh and said, "Alright, alright! I _now _know why you like snow. Go out and fun. And remember, be back by dinner"

"Ok! Bye mom!" Jiraiya said as he waved out the door.

As Jiraiya frolicked in the snow, he reminisced on the memories that he had collected over the past fall. Of course, his favorite memory of all was how he had become master of Gamabunta. Now there was a story to remember.

11111111111111111111111111

It was a hot sunny day when the leaves were just beginning to change colors. Sarotobi sat in the shade watching Jiraiya attempting to do the summoning jutsu. And, once again, Jiraiya had summoned a half formed frog. Sarotobi shook his head in frustration.

"No, no, no, no! Jiraiya I've told you a million times that you have to summon with a focused chakra point! All you're going to get by focusing random spits of chakra you're producing is those half formed frogs!

Jiraiya pulled his hand from the ground in frustration and snapped back, "yah, I know old man! It just doesn't work! There's gotta be some sort of trick to how you're doing this!"

"There's no trick. Now, do it again."

"Fine," Jiraiya said through gritted teeth. "Summoning Jutsu!"

POOF

This time around, Jiraiya got a tad pole. A look of utter bewilderment took over Jiraiya's face. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU GO BACKWARD?"

Then, Jiraiya got really angry. He built his chakra for what seemed like hours and soon enough had a big blue light emanating from his palm. "SUMMONING JUTSU."

From there on, it happened in slow motion. Sarotobi's eyes widened and made a desperate attempt to flee the scene. Jiraiya looked on at the ground in anticipation.

All of a sudden, the entire konoha forest was covered in smoke. Jiraiya looked around to see where he was but all that was visible was a patch of sky. _"What the hell? Why aren't there any trees? And why is the ground so…bumpy…and red?"_

The smoke cleared and revealed to Jiraiya that he was hundreds of feet up from the forest. Jiraiya started to panic. He looked around and about to see if he could get his bearings when a booming voice interrupted his internal turmoil.

"**Where am I? Hokage?! Hokage get over here! I demand to know why you summoned me!"**

"Jiraiya muttered to himself, "hokage? He's talking about Sarotobi? But…Sarotobi summons lizards." Jiraiya paused for a second to climb over the back of the giant he was on. It was defiantly a toad, no tail, bumps everywhere, and was a mucky reddish brown. Jiraiya climbed over the huge creature so that he was placed at the head. The boy let himself down upside down and asked, "You're looking for Sarotobi eh?"

"**What's this? An insect?" **Gamabunta placed a hand over his head to smack the annoying pest off but barely missed as Jiraiya did a huge leap to the base of his nose."

"Hey! I'm not an insect! I am your lord and master! I summoned you!"

Gamabunta let out a thundering roar of laughter. **"You?! Summoned me?! You're barely old enough to feed yourself let alone summon the great Gamabunta. Now where's the hokage?!" **

"Wait a minute! I'm the one who summoned you! You have to obey ME. Besides, Sarotobi isn't that great. _I'm _way better."

"**Heh. The hell you are. And I don't know who this Sarotobi is but he sounds unimportant."**

"Well then…what are you talking about when you say you want to see the hokage? Sarotobi's the hokage! How could you not know that?!"

**Gamabunta raised his eye brows in frustration and belted, "you idiot! There is only the one and only hokage! He's the first of this kind! Now where is he?!"**

Jiraiya's face was plastered over with shock. "Are you saying you're looking for the _first hokage? _He's been dead for ten years!"

"**You lie! He only just summoned me five minutes ago, how can he already be dead?"**

"You're just a poor keeper of time. Anyway, I wanna go on a walk, giddy up!"

At this remark, Gamabunta's face glowed an even deeper red. Then, Gamabunta gave a sly smile and replied, "You wanna ride? Ok, I'll give you a ride!" Within seconds, Gamabunta launched himself hundreds of feet up into the air, causing Jiraiya to become flattened like a pancake.

After several failed attempts to get up, Jiraiya finally managed to stand on two feet. Then, with a shaken voice he said, "y-you…are m-my servant. Deal with it!"

Gamabunta jeered and sneered back, "**I don't give one foot if you're my master! You can barely ride me and as a result are weak and do not deserve my respect."**

"O yah! Challenge me to something and I'll beat up to it you fat tub of lard!"

"**Hmph, **_**fine. **_**If you can trip me, then I will become your servant."**

"TRIP YOU?! HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO DO THAT?"

"**Well I guess you're not my master after all are you? And by the way, I'll be chasing after while you figure out a way to trip me."**

"What?! That's not fair," at this, Jiraiya began to pout and muttered, "YOU're a cheater…BUT I'LL STILL BEAT YOU ANYWAY!"

"**Three, two…."**

"WAIT DON'T I GET A HEAD START?!"  
**"GO!"**

Gamabunta plunged forward with such ferocity that the earth shook. And of course, Jiraiya moved his chicken legs as fast as he could. As he was running, Jiraiya began to think frantically. _"WHAT DO I DO? Do I summon a giant foot? No, no…even I'll admit that's stupid. Ummm hey! Maybe I could get Tsunade to wrestle with him…she's definitely ferocious enough to take the giant toad on. Nah, she's too small…well then how the hell do I trip this guy? Put shoes on him and tie his laces together? Wait a second….THAT'S IT!"_

As a stroke of genius hit Jiraiya, he scrambled for the village in an attempt to get the one thing he needed to fell his opponent. However, seeing as this would damage the village, Jiraiya attempted to run around in circles trying to get people's attention.

1111111111111111111111111111111

Tsunade was outside of her house when she began to feel the earth rumbled. Wondering what it was, she looked up and around her for an explanation. Tsunade stared in bewilderment as she saw a giant frog, or was it a toad? rambling around konoha. Then, Tsunade started to hear a familiar voice calling her name—Jiraiya's.

"_The dope," she thought, "What did he get himself into this time?"_

"STUNADE! GLAD I FOUND YOU! I NEED SOME ROPE! HURRY!"

"What? You need some curry?"

"NO! I NEED ROPE! HURRY!"

"Ok just a sec…how much rope do you need?"

"ALL THE ROPE YOU'VE GOT!"

As Tsunade went into the house, Jiraiya had to make another circle around the village so as not to destroy it.

When Jiraiya had made another round about the village, there was a huge pile of rope waiting for him; the pile was almost twenty feet high. With difficulty, Jiraiya managed to catch all the rope and made a bee line for the forest. He needed at least ten seconds to tie the rope and saw no hope for distraction when Sarotobi and a few men came running to help contain the situation at hand.

Jiraiya began waving his hands around wildly trying to flag down Sarotobi and his men.

"SENSEI! LEAD GAMABUNTA OFF!" Sarotobi gave a comprehensive nod and flagged down a signal towards his men. Sarotobi bit his thumb and performed the summoning jutsu at lightning-fast speed. _"I hope this works…."_

A giant cloud of smoke instantly appeared out of no where and covered konoha. When the smoke cleared, it was Sarotobi's giant lizard, Ekibunta.

As Sarotobi was distracting Gamabunta, Jiraiya dashed around the humongous, ancient trees of the konoha forest. The finished product was a giant, messy looking wire. Jiraiya's face sported a look of doubt. "Well, at least I had a good life."

Then, Jiraiya turned around to face the two giants battling hundreds of yards away. After contemplating how to get Gamabunta's attention, Jiraiya found a way to lure him into his trap. "HEY, UGLY TOAD! YOU WANT ME? COME GET ME," Jiraiya yelled as he pulled down his pants and bellowed, "YAH, YOU WANNA PIECE OF THAT?"

Instantly insulted, Gamabunta turned his attention away from Ekibunta and stated rampaging towards Jiraiya. Sarotobi merely looked on in awe at his student's idiocy.

"**DARE TO MOCK ME WILL YOU? YOU FOOL. I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!" **

Just as Gamabunta was about to flatten Jiraiya to a pancake, he tripped over the massive rope and made the earth shake again. When smoke cleared, it revealed Jiraiya's victory. Gamabunta had not only tripped, but did a face plant as well. Jiraiya had a smug look on his face as he walked up to the toad's beady eyes. "How was that? Am I your master _now." _

Gamabunta grunted while he slowly picked himself up. After awhile, a slow smile crept onto his face when he replied, "yah, you've earned it. I'll see you later…kid."

Without another word, Gamabunta disappeared the same way he came.

As Jiraiya laid in the snow, he looked on his other memories on the past year with nostalgia. He had already learned so much from the time he had started. He was now more than ever certain that better things were yet to come.

TO BE CONITNUED…..


End file.
